Okey dokey, then.

I fulfilled my civic duty yesterday and voted. It's always a little weird going to my polling place. I haven't changed my permanent address since I've moved out of my mother's house, so I'm still registered at her address - which is fine, really. I really haven't made the leap to change my address on most of my more important stuff - driver's license, car insurance, passport - so it just means going a little out of my for Election Day. I know I'll get around to changing it, eventually.

Going to our polling place is always how I think it must be living in a small town and you see everyone you know when you go shopping at the local WalMart. You know you're going to see someone you know, no matter what because you grew up in that tiny town and lived there for your whole life.

It's always the same way on Election Day. I get to the local elementary school and scan the gymnasium and oh! there's so and so from high school and there's Mrs. Soandso, my 3rd grade teacher and Mr. and Mrs. Something from around the block - I remember when he helped me up when I wiped out on my bicycle in front of his house. That was nice of him... And so on. It's kind of nice.

I didn't grow up in such a small town, but when your mother is a school teacher in the district you grew up in, you know a lot of people that maybe you wouldn't have normally met. Like ALL OF THE OTHER TEACHERS from the district. And scads of her students from over the years. You may even DATE one of them at some point (completely by accident because you didn't KNOW he was her student when you first met) and then totally regret it later on because Mom knows things. Things about him and his family and she says things like "people don't change as much as you may think". Because even though she knew him at 7 years old, he is exactly the same at 20*.

But this was a post about voting.

I tried to stay up as late as I could to watch the results on TV, celebrated with some chocolate chip cookies when we found that the Dems had won the House, and wound up falling asleep at about 12:30 without knowing what happened in the Senate. Strangely, I woke up this morning feeling kind of like it was Christmas morning; like there was a surprise waiting for me that had arrived during the night. This is maybe a little weird, to feel so excited about a Senate race, but you know. Politics. They can do some strange things to a girl.

But I woke up to find that the jury is still out on the Senate and there may be a messy recount in Virginia and Montana to follow.

There is still hope that things will change out there. And I think we're about due for one. Don't you?



*He didn't share well in the second grade. He still didn't share anything at 20. Bastard. Ahem.